One of the most well known and widely played casino games is that of roulette, which is played at most land-based and on-line casinos.
At the simplest level, in a conventional game of roulette, a player may place a wager associated with any one or more of 37 locations on a playing surface. The locations on the playing surface are laid out in a standard configuration, which is well known in the art and requires no further elaboration. A number in the range 0 to 36 uniquely identifies each location on the playing surface, and each location has a corresponding colour that is red, black or green. The outcome of the game is determined by a spin of a ball against a rotating roulette wheel having 37 pockets in which the ball may come to rest, each pocket being uniquely identified by a number in the range 0 to 36, respectively. This version of the game is known in the art as “European” roulette. The pockets are arranged circumferentially on the roulette wheel in a standard configuration.
A variant of the game of roulette is the so-called “American” roulette and is one in which the playing surface has 38 locations and the roulette wheel has 38 pockets, each location and pocket being identified uniquely by a number in the range 0 to 36, as well as the “number” 00.
In the description that follows, the invention will be described with particular reference to the European version of the roulette game. It is to be clearly understood, however, that the invention is also applicable to the American version of the game.
If the ball comes to rest in a pocket corresponding to a location on the playing surface on which the player has placed a wager, the player is paid an amount of 35 times the amount of the wager. The player forfeits all other wagers of this type on the playing surface to an operator of the roulette game.
Additional types of wagers are allowed on the playing surface, such as a wager on any two, three, four or six adjacent locations thereon, a wager on any one of locations 1 to 12, 13 to 24, or 25 to 36, a wager on any one of the numbers in any column arrangement on the playing surface, a wager on any even or any odd number, a wager on any red location or any black location, or a wager on any one of locations 1 to 18, or 19 to 36. The payout on successful wagers of these types is determined to give an appropriate advantage to the operator of the roulette game.
In the light of the large number and variety of different types of wagers that are possible in the game of roulette, it is customary for a player to place numerous different wagers on a turn of the game of roulette. After the outcome of the spin of the roulette wheel is known, each one of the different wagers must be individually evaluated and paid, if successful. This can be tedious, particularly when the game is played in a land-based casino.
An even greater problem is the time required by a player to place a large number of different wagers on the playing surface prior to a spin of the roulette wheel, an activity which can be laborious and can cause the player's interest in the game to wane rapidly. The problem is exacerbated for players who place multiple wagers on the playing surface according to a system, or in a set pattern, prior to each spin of the roulette wheel, or as a function of the outcome of previous wagers, which can be tedious.